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Carr hails quality of Wolmer’s squad

Published:Monday | May 17, 2021 | 12:11 AMRaymond Graham/Gleaner Writer
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From left: Wolmer’s Girls’ School’s Tiana Marshall clears the final hurdle in the Class Four girls’ 70m hurdles final ahead of Hydel High School’s Tihanna Reid, Vere Technical High School’s Kecia King, and Wolmer’s Natrilia Campbell at the IS
Ian Allen
From left: Wolmer’s Girls’ School’s Tiana Marshall clears the final hurdle in the Class Four girls’ 70m hurdles final ahead of Hydel High School’s Tihanna Reid, Vere Technical High School’s Kecia King, and Wolmer’s Natrilia Campbell at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
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Wolmer’s Girls’ School track and field head coach Michael Carr says it was the quality of the squad that allowed for an eighth-place finish at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) on Saturday.

Wolmer’s ended on 57 points and was the best-placed girls’ team in the Corporate Area at Champs.

“For us, it was quality over quantity, and despite losing by five points to Excelsior at the Corporate Area meet, I was confident that we could finish ahead of them at Champs due to the quality we had,” Carr said.

Wolmer’s, which have produced several international athletes, including Janeek Brown, Jonielle Smith, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, had two gold and two silver medals at Champs through Tiana Marshall and Natrilia Campbell, with wins in the Class Four 70m hurdles and long jump, while Shanniqua Williams and Malaika Cunningham were second in the Class Three and Class Two high jump, respectively.

CONFIDENCE IN THE GIRLS

“We only took 12 girls to the championships as I had a lot of confidence in them, as 70 per cent of them contributed in the points where we had a few fourth-place finishes,” Carr said. “Before this, we finished nine years in a row as the top Corporate Area team, and it feels good to be back.

“It has been a rebuilding process for us as we had a strong Class Four team, and when they move up to Class Three next season, I am hoping they will transition well there, as the plan now is to get a good set of Class Four girls to replace them.

Carr thanked Wolmer’s principal Colleen Montague, the parents of the athletes, and assistant coach Oliver Marshall, who was in charge of the throwers. He said that without them, none of the success would have been possible.

“Tiana got injured and was told to do just enough to qualify for the 200m final, but being the fighter she is, she ran to win, aggravated the injury, and had to be pulled from the relays, where we were expected to do very well,” Carr said. “But she ran in the final of the 200m and contributed a point.”

Carr, who has also spent six years at St Andrew High School for Girls, is now is his 34th year at Wolmer’s.

sports@gleanerjm.com